All 6 English clubs pull out of European Super League
All the six Premier League teams initially involved in the European Super League have now pulled out of the competition.
Manchester City and Chelsea had led the line by withdrawing from the breakaway League.
Now, the other four sides – Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham – have all now followed suit.
The Super League organisers ,however, appear unrelenting as they have assured they would reconsider “the most appropriate steps” to reshape the project.
The announcement of the 12-team Super League on Sunday was greeted with widespread condemnation with many describing it as a greedy move by a few.
Liverpool said their involvement in the proposed breakaway league “has been discontinued”.
Manchester United said they had “listened carefully to the reaction from our fans, the UK government, and other key stakeholders” in making their decision to not take part.
Arsenal apologised in an open letter to their fans and said they had “made a mistake”, adding they were withdrawing after listening to them and the “wider football community” while Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said the club regretted the “anxiety and upset” caused by the proposal.
Chelsea confirmed they have “begun the formal procedures for withdrawal from the group” that they only joined “late last week.”
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin welcomed the reversal, adding: “They are back in the fold now and I know they have a lot to offer not just to our competitions but to the whole of the European game.
“The important thing now is that we move on, rebuild the unity that the game enjoyed before this and move forward together.”
In a statement, the European Super League said: “Given the current circumstances we shall reconsider the most appropriate steps to reshape the project, always having in mind our goals of offering fans the best experience possible while enhancing solidarity payments for the entire football community.”
The Premier League teams referred to as the Big Six were part of a group, also containing Spain’s Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, and Real Madrid and Italy’s AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus, that announced plans to form the breakaway league, which they hoped to kick start as early as August.
However, the breakaway league was widely condemned by fans, football authorities, and government ministers in the UK and across Europe by UEFA, league associations, and even FIFA through its president Gianni Infantino.(Premium Times)
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